FWS chief briefs lawmakers on hunting, fishing at wildlife refuges

Brian Nesvik vowed he'll work to see

January 14, 2026

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to trumpet the Trump administration’s plans to expand hunting and fishing on the nation’s wildlife refuges, with lawmakers responding with bipartisan support for shoring up those public lands.

Nesvik testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, using his appearance to showcase a new Interior Department-wide directive to “identify and remove unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers to hunting and fishing” on wildlife refuge lands.

Nesvik told lawmakers he'll work to see "all refuges and hatcheries are open to hunting and fishing within two years,” except where specific conflicts exist.

His remarks came in the wake of an order quietly signed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Jan. 7 that directed all Interior bureaus to “identify and remove unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers to hunting and fishing” on their lands.

“We'll be implementing the secretary's order by identifying new hunting and fishing opportunities on Service lands and waters, cutting red tape for hunters and anglers and strengthening our collaboration with states, tribes and territories,” Nesvik said.

Burgum’s Secretarial Order 3447 covers all Interior bureaus, including the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, but it has special focus on the Fish and Wildlife Service and its hundreds of refuges.

The new order states that “restrictions on lead ammunition or tackle may not be included in [refuge regulations], except in rare circumstances.”

Pointedly, the new order also directs that individual refuge manager proposals to reduce or eliminate hunting or fishing options will now be “elevated” to “leadership” for review.

Compared to some congressional public lands hearings, the afternoon session Tuesday remained low-key, with lawmakers and witnesses alike offering bipartisan support for initiatives to support the wildlife refuge system.

“While not attributable to one party, nor to a single Administration or one Congress, the refuge system has found itself to be the victim of steady, incremental decline,” said Jason Tharpe, the North Dakota-based CEO of Delta Waterfowl.

Ryan "Cal" Cunningham, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, added that “this work remains unfinished” and noted the necessity for adequate staffing.

“Infrastructure is only part of the equation," Cunningham said. "Hunting and fishing access also depends on supporting the full staffing of our public land management agencies."

The refuge system includes more than 570 national wildlife refuges as well as 38 wetland management areas and five marine national monuments. All told, the system spans nearly 900 million acres, with about 86 million acres of refuges located in the 50 states, and the remaining acreage spread across the marine national monuments.

The refuge system currently confronts a deferred maintenance backlog estimated at some $2.6 billion.

The refuges are now being scrutinized by Fish and Wildlife Service officials, as part of a self-assessment that Nesvik ordered on Dec. 16. He directed that the review include a search for refuges “established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission" of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Nesvik set the final deadline of Feb. 15.

“It is something that is long overdue and an action that I believe will make our refuge system even better,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), the subcommittee chair.

Responding to concerns voiced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) about the review becoming a “political scrub,” Nesvik said he did not have any “preconceived notion” of a specific refuge that no longer meets administration priorities, but he said it’s appropriate to look.

“It makes sense to me when you're going to do a top to bottom audit of a system that is so large to look at the refuge’s founding purpose and then how we're executing that.” Nesvik said.

In December, Nesvik rescinded the agency's Refuge System Strategic Growth Policy that had been incorporated in the Fish and Wildlife Service Manual for more than a decade.

The now-rescinded policy included several references to climate change as part of an overall guide to refuge managers as they prioritized acquisitions for new and existing refuges.


By:  Michael Doyle
Source: E&E Daily